"Reports suggest that assaults on U.S. officials on the Mexico border are on the rise, as desperate traffickers are increasingly prepared to confront law enforcement agents head on. However, a look at these "attacks" shows that the danger may be exaggerated.

According to an article in Mexico's El Universal, the Border Patrol and other U.S. law enforcement agencies that work along the border have seen an increase in the number of attacks by Mexican drug cartels in recent months. This claim is bolstered by a 2010 Congressional Research Service report on border violence, which indicates that such attacks have increased from 773 recorded incidents in 2005 to 1,073 in 2009."